


Inopportune

by PyrophobicDragon



Category: Dragalia Lost (Video Game)
Genre: 5 Times Fic, Humor, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 09:17:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyrophobicDragon/pseuds/PyrophobicDragon
Summary: Five times Heinwald and Curran nearly got caught.Or: for a pair in a secret relationship those two are oddly horny in public spaces.





	Inopportune

When they finally entered the castle gates after a quick mission that ended up being extended to a whole week, Heinwald released a sigh of relief. Luckily, none of the four of them--Berserker, Althemia, himself, and Erik--died or ended up seriously injured, but the past week was far more fraught than any of them were expecting. Now that they finally made it to safety, he could look forward to leveraging this near-disaster to persuade Curran to let him sleep in for the next few days.

Speaking of which, his partner was standing on the porch, alongside Euden and his retainers. He seemed still and relaxed, but Heinwald could sense the anxiety radiating off of him that instantly dissipated when they rode into view.

As soon as the horse stopped, Curran was at its side, reaching his hand up to help Heinwald down. Heinwald allowed Berserker to get off first before accepting the outstretched hand and sliding off to the ground.

“Welcome back, you guys,” Euden said warmly once they had all dismounted. “I’m glad it turned out OK.”

“I can debrief Euden,” Berserker offered. “You all can go and rest.”

“Are you certain?” asked Erik, despite the lines of tension still clear in his eyes. “I could--”

“No, no, I’m feeling refreshed after those battles,” Berserker waved him off.

“All right, thanks, Berserker,” Althemia said, relief clear in her voice.

Heinwald and Curran followed Erik and Althemia into the castle. But once they got inside, Curran tugged on his elbow, leading him into a left turn and then a right into a deserted corridor.

As soon as they were in privacy, Curran stepped forward and drew Heinwald into a hug. “Welcome back. Missed you. I was worried.”

Heinwald smiled and wrapped his arms around Curran’s taut shoulders. “Hello, friend. I missed you as well.” He added, “Erik and Berserker are serviceable allies, but I found myself wishing that you were there.”

“Me too. I knew you’d be all right, but I would’ve felt better being there instead of waiting around.” Curran gave him a gentle squeeze and then drew back, but only to look him in the face. “Did you get injured?”

“No, I’m well. Just tired.”

“Hmm. We can take care of that.” Then he leaned down and pecked Heinwald on the lips.

They had been together for quite some time now, though no one in this castle knew about it. It was not something either of them were ashamed about or anything like that. It was merely something they tried to keep discreet in deference to the fact that Curran could potentially lose his job over a homosexual relationship, and it was easier to keep a secret the less people know about it. Still, even in a technically accessible area, they were quick to exchange a few sweet kisses as soon as they had a private corner to themselves.

When they separated again, Curran gave him a soft, besotted smile. Then he ruined the moment by saying, “By the way, you smell like horse.”

Heinwald rolled his eyes. “Obviously. I ought to take a bath.”

“Maybe I ought to--” He broke off and turned his head. Suddenly, he he took two steps back away from Heinwald, crossing his arms instead. Heinwald immediately let him go, latching both of his hands around his staff. “Er, leave you to it.”

Right as he was hastily finishing his statement, Elisanne came around the corner. She blinked at the two of them. “Oh. Welcome back, Heinwald.”

“Hello, Elisanne,” he said politely, bowing his head a little.

The three of them stared at each other. Then Elisanne looked around the hallway.

“Er, can we help you?” Curran asked.

“No,” she said hastily. “I just--never mind. Sorry. See you two later.” 

She backed around the corner, leaving the two investigators raising their brows at one another.

Heinwald mumbled, “That was...odd.”

“Tell me about it.” Curran wrinkled his nose and added, “but seriously. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

***

1.

The moment the camp began to quiet down, they snuck away from the rest of the army into the woods.

They stopped about a few minute’s walk into the woods, once they were certainly hidden among the trees. Curran turned around and opened his arms and Heinwald gladly stepped into them, resting his head on his chest. He felt Curran press a kiss to the top of his head.

One of his favorite things about their relationship was that he did not have to justify engaging in this sort of activity. If he wanted to follow Curran into the woods and kiss him, he could and he would.

Curran dipped down to press a kiss to his jaw. When he pulled away, Heinwald pushed himself up onto his tip-toes, stabilizing himself by putting his hands on Curran's solid chest, and kissed him on the lips. His lover, in a rare bout of cruelty, did not bother to lean down or otherwise make it easier for Heinwald to kiss him; all he did was wrap one arm around Heinwald's lower back and use the other hand to sweep his bangs out of the way. 

They could have sex in the woods, he thought. Curran could take him against a tree or on the forest floor, or they could suck or masturbate each other, and it would be good despite the discomfort that would surely result from having intercourse with few preparations, not even Curran's cloak to act as a bed. But sometimes it was equally pleasing to kiss for no reason. It wasn't even truly "making out," as Curran called it. They were simply exchanging chaste kisses for no reason. And despite--or perhaps because of--the simplicity of the act, Heinwald let out a quiet moan into Curran's mouth, tilting his head up for another sweet kiss.

That's about when they heard the crunch of leaves.

They both froze. Heinwald looked at Curran. He understood.

Slowly, quietly, almost holding his breath, Curran moved his hand over and swept his thumb across the circumference of Heinwald's hearing aid. He winced a little at the sudden increase in ambient volume, but if he concentrated, he could hear--

“Was it a fiend?”

“Quiet. It’s not making any more sound.”

“Sounded like an injured person to me. Maybe we should call out?”

Heinwald carefully breathed out, “Eleonora. Hawk. Ifran. Hunt.”

He watched Curran’s eyes go wide as he put together what he said.

They were caught in quite a compromising position. They could walk out from behind the tree, but there was no good reason why they’d be hiding silently instead of walking around and making noise. They could’ve bluffed Eleonora, but Hawk and Ifran would be much harder sells. Flight would be their only option, but they couldn’t just make a mad dash for it; all three were capable hunters and Hawk in particular was a crack shot.

He saw Curran’s eyes drifting past his head. He craned his neck and saw what he was looking at.

Some fifty feet away, oblivious to their presence, was a deer. Its head was raised, its ears were pointed in the direction of the three hunters.

Curran kicked a nearby bush.

The deer bolted, an arrow flew, hitting a tree just above where the bush was. Heinwald winced, reeling from how loud the noise of the kick and of the fleeing deer was with his enhanced hearing, but he couldn’t focus on his pain for too long for Curran was running, holding his arm, dragging him away from the hunters deeper into the woods.

Heinwald reached up and turned his hearing aid as high as it could go, barely catching voices above the loud rustling of the bushes and the thump of their footsteps: 

“--just a deer family, let ‘em go, we don’t need the meat.”

“Could’ve sworn I heard someone moan…”

Any reply was quickly drowned out by the sound of their flight, and Heinwald had to turn his hearing back down to spare his poor eardrums the assault.

After a brief sprint through the woods, they slowed and picked their way slowly back to camp, taking the long route around to avoid running into the hunters in the woods again. Before even leaving camp, they had constructed a cover story, which they began to build up as they approached.

“Mushrooms, Curran!”

“Dunno why you wanted to go pick some...we have more than enough rations.”

“Mushrooms are a vital ingredient in potions. You could make some potent poisons with them!”

“Why on earth are you trying to make poisons?”

“You never know when you’d need to poison someone. Oh, don’t give me that look, I won’t kill anyone with poison, they’re too easily identifiable in the bloodstream. But to make someone feel ill is a valuable tool for any investigator.”

When they finally reached camp, their three erstwhile pursuers had already returned, likely because they had taken a more direct route than their own. Much to their surprise, Hawk called over to them, interrupting their discussion on mushrooms. “You two. Did you see or hear anything strange in the woods?”

“The strangest thing I saw was this nutjob,” Curran grumbled, jerking a thumb at Heinwald.

The corner of Hawk’s mouth lifted in a rare smile. “Hah. I was asking because Eleonora was out collecting leaves, and she thought she heard what could’ve been a fiend’s cry or a person in pain. Didn’t find anything, obviously, except for some deer.”

“Indeed, we neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary,” said Heinwald. Then he pulled a lovely false morel out of his pocket. “Would you like a mushroom?”

“I’ll...pass.” Hawk gave him an odd expression and returned to his bow.

“Your loss,” Heinwald said cheerfully, and followed Curran back over to their bedrolls.

***

2.

The door slammed shut behind Curran with a bang, echoing in the dead-silent dining room.

Heinwald quietly set down his fork and polished off the last gulp of his tea. He set it down with a deliberate clunk. “If you’ll pardon us,” he said before he got up and followed his partner out of the room.

He found his lover on the porch, leaning against one of the pillars, with his back to the door. He had no qualms about approaching him and wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Curran grumbled.

“Who said I’m here to talk about it?” Heinwald asked. He leaned around until he could smirk at him. “I’m here because you are exceptionally attractive when you’re angry.”

"I know what you're trying to do," Curran sighed. But he turned around, giving Heinwald greater access to his face, which he gladly took advantage of to kiss him.

"But is it working?"

"Fuck you," he said, without heat.

"You wish."

“ _ I _ wish? You’re at least as thirsty as I am, if not moreso.”

“If you say so.”

Curran cupped Heinwald’s face in his hands, resting them under the curve of his jaw, and peppered his face with kisses his face in between his words. “You--” forehead-- “are--” cheek-- “infuriating.” other cheek.

“Yet instead of riling you up further, I seem to have calmed you down, unfortunately.” Heinwald sighed faux-dramatically, reaching up and holding onto Curran’s wrist with his own hand..

“Unfortunately?” Curran echoed, raising a brow.

“Your inhibitions tend to be lower when you are angry. And sometimes, I just want you to--”

The porch door slammed open. Curran’s head shot up and his eyes went wide. “Lowen--”

A little boy’s scream pierced the night. “AHHHH! MR. CURRAN IS TRYING TO KILL MR. HEINWALD!!!”

Lowen’s calls for help echoed behind him as he bolted out of the porch back into the castle

Heinwald cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, slightly strained, “that was certainly not the conclusion I was expecting him to draw.”

“I could see how, though,” Curran replied, equally weakly. From a certain angle, romantically holding Heinwald’s face could come across as a strangulation. “Soo...what’s our cover story?”

“We were joking about how easily you could strangle me, with your strength.”

“Yeah, we do about that a lot, don’t we?” Curran sighed. “Well, time to go face the music--or, rather, the judgemental looks.”

Heinwald echoed his sigh.

***

3.

The castle library was very old. It was built in a time where books were far more expensive than they were now, back when nearly every book in the library was chained to their shelves. They had removed the chains, for ease of access and to replace some of the books with newer items, but as a consequence the shelves had tables built directly into the shelves so scholars could sit and read within the limits of the chains. There used to be long benches, too, as evidenced by the faded marks in the rug, but extensive searches of all the rooms had not turned them up. Heinwald privately hypothesized that they were chopped up for during one lean winter, but he had no way of proving his theory.

He was currently leaning on one of those tables, bent over with his elbows on the table, reading a book on possession. His ears pricked up when he heard footsteps, and when he felt someone pressing up against his backside, he smiled.

“Pardon me,” Curran purred as he leaned over him, resting both of his hands on Heinwald’s hips.

Heinwald straightened up, moving to turn around, but Curran only crowded him in further, trapping him against the desk. He bit his own lip, feeling a rush of blood up to his face as the pit of his belly jolted in excitement at being trapped in place by his lover. After a moment to compose himself, he craned his neck to glance at him out of the corner of his eye. “Well, excuse you. You could have asked me to move.”

“I could have. Or I could have done this.” Curran pressed a kiss against Heinwald’s neck, making him giggle.

“What’s gotten into you?” Curran was usually not this forward, especially in public spaces.

“I’m a little tipsy.”

Heinwald raised a brow. “At two in the afternoon?”

Curran laughed and kissed his neck again. “Fucking bimbo. Try two in the morning.”

He couldn’t see anything but the bookshelves and a bit of the walkway from this angle, so he reached behind him and dug a hand into Curran’s pocket. He pulled out his pocket watch and craned his head to check the time, only to blink in surprise. “...So it seems.”

“Mm-hm.” Another kiss. “It’s the middle of the night, I’m drunk and thinking about all the times we had sex in your library.”

Heinwald dropped the watch, letting it swing back and tap against Curran’s thigh. He buried that hand into Curran’s hair, only encouraging to him to keep his place nestled against the column of his throat. “What can I say? I find it marvelously efficient. I can research and entertain you simultaneously.”

“Last time you got so caught up in moaning my name that you dropped your precious book on my foot.”

“Oh, hush, you.”

Curran hushed. But one hand drifted down to grope Heinwald through his pants. Heinwald only laughed and asked, “Do you think you can keep it up long enough to finish this time?”

“I’m not  _ that _ drunk.”

“You’re drunk enough to approach me in the library for sex, you--”

Footsteps.

Curran froze. Heinwald was much quicker to react than his drunken lover.

He quickly pulled Curran’s hand away and pushed him off. After a quick consideration of his options, he pushed him down, urging him to lie on the floor. It took a moment, but Curran quickly caught on, and he closed his eyes and let his mouth hang open, miming sleep. 

When Victor came around the corner, Heinwald was standing over Curran, arms crossed, scowling. They looked at each other, both unable to hide their surprise.

“You. You’re the...investigator.” 

“You know of me,” Heinwald observed. He had never actually spoken to this man before. He saw him in battle a few times, and Curran told him about the rumors and the subsequent clearing-up of said rumors, and then Euden announced one day that he left but would possibly return. From what he did know of him, he wasn’t surprised that this man had information on him. A man like Victor would be wary of Empire spies in a way that Euden wouldn’t be.

Victor nodded quietly. He only looked at Heinwald, who took a moment to regret the fact that Curran was currently pretending to be passed out on the floor. He could use the support. 

He eventually settled on saying, “I was considering what to do with my partner. He is mildly inebriated, as you can see.”

“Your partner, hmm?” Heinwald tilted his head slowly, waiting for another comment to come. Eventually, Victor shook his head. “I heard rumors of the prince’s stand against the Empire, and I decided to come by and offer a hand. It seemed rude to return to the room I used without a word, so I was looking for a place to nap until morning.”

Heinwald inspected him throughout his account. He seemed relatively honest, so Heinwald inclined his head. “Well. You found me, you exchanged words with me, you may tell Prince Euden that I was the one who offered you your room again.”

“My thanks.” Victor looked back down at Curran. For some reason, his lip quirked up into a smile. “Would you need help getting your partner back to your room?”

“No, I’ll simply wake him up and make him walk there under his own power. Thank you for your offer.”

“If you say so. Good night, Mr. Heinwald. I look forward to speaking with you in the future.”

“Good night, Mr. Victor.”

Heinwald watched the man walk around the corner. Then he knelt down and touched Curran’s shoulder.

Curran’s eyes, he noticed, were already open. He sat up and looked up at Heinwald, who whispered to him, “Interesting fellow.”

Curran had no reply. So Heinwald helped him to his feet and they left the library together., to go continue their activities in the more suitable environment of their bedroom.

***

4.

“That’s it...take it all, dirty boy.”

Heinwald moaned, the sound muffled by the cock filling his mouth. He had one hand curled up into a fist, squeezing his thumb as hard as he could, and the other was resting lightly on Curran’s knee.

He was kneeling underneath the desk in the room the two of them had commandeered as their office and workspace for cases. He had gotten bored of the book he was reading and had crawled under the desk, promptly opening up Curran’s pants and swallowing down his cock.

Curran had done his best to show indifference to the surprise blowjob, calmly continuing to work the massive amounts of paperwork that constantly needed signatures and enveloping. But soon his hand had drifted down to Heinwald’s hair, and soon he started to tug him around, directing him to take in less or more of his cock, and soon he had set down his pen and leaned back in his chair to watch with greedy eyes as Heinwald sucked him off.

By the Goddess, Heinwald was so good at sucking dick. His long, soft hair gave Curran the perfect thing to grab onto. His talented tongue was put to equally good use here, licking at the head of his dick when Curran pulled him off or pressing against the underside when he deep-throated his cock. His pretty eyes looked so good, peering up at him through his lashes, watching his reaction as he swallowed, his throat muscles constricting, and they looked even better squeezing shut with strain when Curran thrust in deep.

“You’re prettiest when your mouth is too preoccupied to mock me,” Curran teased him. Heinwald opened his eyes and rolled them--Curran made that same joke every single time Heinwald gave him a blowjob.

There was no rush, no sense of urgency. They were taking their sweet time with this. It was late at night, no one ever bothered them in their office, they could afford to have Curran lazily rocking his hips up into his mouth, Heinwald could--

The door slammed open. 

Curran’s leg jumped up, slamming Heinwald’s hand up into the desk. Heinwald didn’t make a sound--or maybe it was that he couldn’t, given the fact that he still had Curran’s cock buried in his throat.

Ranzal stomped into the room.

Given the way he stumbled about, knocking over piles of books as he went, Curran assumed he was drunk. He was dressed down for the night, in a plain black tank top and brown shorts, barefoot in the stone floor. As he stumbled through the room, pulling out the chair that Curran usually occupied and sitting down with a loud sigh and an equally-loud creak, Curran tried to think.

The desk was bisected in the middle with a long wooden panel that Curran often knocked his long legs against. Given the length and the angle, chances are Ranzal couldn’t see anything but maybe Heinwald’s feet--and yep, a quick glance down revealed that Heinwald had already shuffled, kneeling on one knee and shifting to the side to minimize the chance of Ranzal seeing his feet sticking out. But, Curran quickly noticed, he hadn’t pulled off of his cock yet.

Curran tugged at his hair, trying to get him to let go. But Heinwald had a bit of mischief in his eyes that spelled bad news for Curran.

He couldn't look down at his crotch any longer, because Ranzal sighed again. “Damn…”

Curran pulled Heinwald’s hair harder, insistently. “Yeah.”

Normally he would offer a sympathetic ear to whatever was troubling Ranzal, but now was really not a good time to try and give advice when his evil, sexy, boyfriend was started to bob his head underneath the desk, ignoring his directions.

“The kid’s growing up,” Ranzal mumbled. “E’s still a kid, yeah, but he’s gettin’ there.”

“Mm-hmm.” Heinwald finally pulled off his cock. But instead he swirled his tongue around the head, teasing it as the cool air struck his spit-slick cock. Curran had to suppress his full-body shiver, but he didn’t think he did so good, because Ranzal blinked at him. He quickly said, “Aren’t you cold? I sure am.”

“Pretty warm, actually. You should drink like I did. Warm you up.”

All Curran could think about was the warmth of Heinwald’s mouth enveloping his dick again. “Uh, nah. I have reports to fill out. If I spill my drink on them I’ll have to start over.”

Ranzal looked down at the desk, blinking in surprise. “Burning the midnight oil? Where’s your partner?”

Currently doing his best to make sure that he’ll get yelled at the moment Ranzal left. Curran was already planning his punishment. Right now, his best idea was to forbid him from coming for a whole damn week, but it was hard to think when he could feel Heinwald’s steady breath against his balls as he held his whole cock in his mouth, tip to base, and flexed his tongue against the underside. “Dunno. Probably refilling the teapot.” He hoped Ranzal was too drunk to notice that they didn’t have their teacups out. 

Ranzal yawned widely and got to his feet. “Don’t stay up too late, you crazy kids.” Then he stumbled for the door.

Curran refrained from telling him that he was in his late twenties, thank you very much. He didn’t want him sticking around any longer. He waited until the footsteps faded--and of course Ranzal didn’t close the door--before he pulled back and glared at Heinwald. “You fucking bastard. You exhibitionist slut. Really?”

Heinwald pulled off just long enough to grin unrepentantly at him and say, “Oh, you know how I get once I get focused on a project. Nothing can distract me away from it until the mystery is solved.” He dove for Curran’s cock once more, only to be stopped by Curran’s fingers catching him by the hair.

“Well, if you wanna get caught in the act so bad….” Curran wrapped his hand around his dick and began to jerk himself off. It wasn’t the smoothest ride, but he’s been on edge pretty much ever since Ranzal walked through the door. Heinwald pouted up at him, but otherwise didn't move to protest. In fact, he tilted his head up and closed his eyes as Curran came all over his face. 

He opened them up again and mumbled sulkily, "I worked so hard for that...you wouldn't even come in my mouth?"

"Nope. I only reward good boys, not slutty cockwhores who keep sucking my dick with another man in the room." Curran hooked his fingers under his chin, tilting his head this way and that, admiring the white painting his bangs, coating his glasses, dripping down his cheeks. "This isn't the extent of your punishment, though. That was really naughty of you."

Heinwald's half-hard cock twitched in his pants. He wondered with vague excitement already building in his belly if Curran would choose to exact his revenge now or if he would draw it out. He hoped it was the former, though he would not be opposed to the latter. "I'm sorry, sir." He fluttered his come-coated lashes at him, though his innocent act was definitely undermined by...external factors.

"Oh, you will be, after a week of getting tied up and teased every night and not being able to come," Curran grumbled. "Now wipe the come off your face. We're going to bed."

"What if I like the thrill of it?" Heinwald asked as Curran helped him out from under the desk. His knees hurt, but it was such a familiar consequence of these activities that it was almost erotic in itself.

"Mutant frog," Curran said, using their safe word or, in this context, the signal that he was speaking seriously, "the kids tend to wander around at this time of night. And I really don't want to be the one giving any of them the sex talk."

Heinwald made a face. "That is a fair point." He tugged his handkerchief out of one of his pockets and used it to clean off his face. After struggling with his glasses a bit, he eventually grumbled, took them off, and tucked them into his pocket. Squinting at Curran, he said, “You’ll have to guide me out of this room.”

“You should have thought of that before you pulled your little stunt,” Curran grumbled as he took Heinwald by the arm and carefully led him around the piles of books and papers on the floor and into the hallway.

***

5.

Curran had a half-smile permanently plastered onto his face.

He was lying in bed naked, but he wasn’t doing much resting. Heinwald was sitting primly on top of him, with his hands resting on his chest and Curran’s dick buried inside of him. He hadn’t done much other than roll his hips a few times, but he couldn’t say he was  _ mad. _ Sometimes a tease was good. Especially when the tease was the sensation of Heinwald, warm and tight around his cock.

Still, he was starting to get impatient at Heinwald’s laziness. “Are you going to move any time soon?” he asked, but more with an air of genuine curiosity than actual demand.

Heinwald smirked at him. He leaned down, pressing his weight onto the hand still on Curran’s chest, to stroke a hand through his hair. “Why would I? I’m doing just fine where I am right now.”

“That wasn’t my question and you know it,” Curran growled, but his hands stayed tucked behind his head where they’ve been for the past who-knows-how-long. It wasn’t that urgent yet.

“Be more precise,” Heinwald scolded him lightly. He leaned down all the way to kiss Curran on the lips, then straightened back up to his original position. He squeezed around Curran’s cock and smirked at the groan he managed to draw from his lips.

“My mistake. I was wondering if you were going to fuck yourself on my cock anytime soon, you lazy princess.”

“Hmmmm...no.”

Curran rolled his eyes, but he beckoned Heinwald down for another kiss.

Right when Heinwald was leaning down, there was a knock on the door.

It was unfortunate that Curran’s first thought was  _ fucking really? Again? _

But it was even more unfortunate that his first  _ instinct _ was to throw Heinwald off of him.

He hit the wall with a dull  _ thud _ and a bitten-off cry, but before Curran could do more than reach for him, a muffled voice sounded. “Curran? Are you in there?”

Cursing under his breath, Curran pushed Heinwald into the space between the mattress and the wall, throwing his blanket over him and bunching it up so it looked like it had been tossed there in a heap. “Give me a moment!” he yelled at the door, jumping out of bed and frantically glancing about for his clothes.

Damn it, all of their clothes were strewn about the place. He quickly gathered up every article of clothing he could see and shoved it all underneath the bed, save for his own underwear, which he tugged on frantically over his disappointed dick.

He checked himself in the mirror. He wiped the sweat off of his brow, ran a hand through his mussed hair, and checked himself over for tell-tale kiss bruises. Then he opened the door.

Albert stood outside the door. “Curran, I--” but he stuttered when he looked at Curran. “--I’m sorry, am I…?”

“No! No, no, no. I was working out.” His cheeks were burning hot, and he pressed the back of his hand against one of them in an attempt to cool them down. “What do you want?”

He didn’t mean to say it so gruffly, but he wanted--he needed--to get Albert out of here. Albert seemed equally embarrassed, addressing the door behind Curran’s left ear rather than he himself. “I just...well, it’s not important…”

“Okay…?” He was starting to get annoyed. Albert disturbed them for something not important?

“Actually, no, it is a little important. Do you know where Heinwald is?”

Curran blinked at Albert. “Huh? You’re looking for Hein?” he asked, forgetting completely about his previous desire to get rid of Albert as fast as possible in favor of figuring out why Albert was looking for his partner. As far as he was aware, Heinwald never really mentioned him? Were they friends?

“Uh, yeah. Though maybe I should be talking to you instead…?” he mused, more to himself than to Curran.

Curran coughed awkwardly. “Could it...wait?”

“Oh! Oh, yes, I’m sorry. Uh, I’ll--just, let Heinwald know that I’m looking for him? The next time you see him?” The blush was back in full force.

“Okay, yeah, I will. See you.” Albert stepped away and Curran shut the door as quickly as possible.

As soon it swung closed, Heinwald threw the blanket off from over his head and glared at him from his hiding spot.

“THAT was your plan?” Heinwald asked, looking and sounding rather like a cornered cat.

“Look, I panicked! Sorry!”

“Urgh.” Heinwald managed to crawl out of the space and back onto the bed. He rubbed the back of his head, making Curran wince.

“Did you hit your head? I’m sorry.” He walked over and sat down next to him. He didn’t think he threw him that hard, but in hindsight, Heinwald was pretty light and he was...pretty strong. Too strong to be throwing his lover against the wall like that without something to cushion his head.

“No, it was just a bump.” He let Curran check him over anyways.

After Curran examined him and decided that he didn’t do much more damage than a small bruise, neither of them were particularly interested in getting their night back on track after that mood-killer, and eventually they migrated into quiet cuddling.

“This is getting out of hand,” Curran grumbled. He was referring to the amount of times they had been interrupted while trying to get some time alone. He wasn’t sure if Heinwald knew what he was talking about, but Heinwald sighed in response, 

“Perhaps it would be better if we just told people about our relationship. Simply so that people would be less likely to come to our rooms at inopportune moments.”

Curran was quiet. Heinwald craned his neck to look up at him and added, “But of course, it is up to you. You have the most to lose if one of your supervisors found out.”

“I don’t know if anyone here would willingly report me to the Church,” he groaned, rubbing his forehead. “So maybe keeping this whole thing a secret is a dumb idea.”

“Then again,” said Heinwald quietly, “we have people such as Miss Serena, who would be very easily manipulated into letting secrets slip.”

“That’s true.” Curran sat up a little to look down at Heinwald. “Do you...you don’t care, do you?”

“I have no preference about who knows or doesn’t know about our relationship.” And Curran knew that Heinwald genuinely meant it.

“Well, if you don’t mind this stupid sneaking around...I think it’s better to keep this quiet.” He dropped back onto the pillows with a sigh.

“Whatever you think is best,” said Heinwald, unusually sweet, as he leaned up to kiss his jaw.

***

At around the same time as the two investigators were coming to their conclusion, Luca set down his bow with a sigh.

“Okay, guys. Are we ever gonna tell them?”

“Tell who what?” asked Euden, looking over at him. Surprisingly, or maybe not, Alex was the one who knew what he was talking about.

“...Are you talking about telling Curran and Heinwald that we know of their secret relationship?”

“What?!” Elisanne exclaimed, taken aback. “Those two are in a secret relationship?”

“I find it hard to believe myself,” Cleo said. She rolled her eyes up to the sky, trying to reevaluate all of their interactions.

“Yeah, you didn’t know?” asked Luca.

Cleo, Elisanne, Mym and Euden all shook their heads. Ranzal, Luca, Sarisse, and Alex stared at them in disbelief.

Both sides immediately burst into conversation.

“What? How on earth did you not know?”

“Well, what on earth makes you say that?”

“They’re always together--”

“You and Elisanne are always together, that doesn’t mean you two are in a relationship!”

“...”

“Why did you not deem it prudent to tell us earlier?”

“I thought everyone knew!”

“Guys! Can everyone stop talking?”

Everyone shut up, because it was Euden.

He frowned and said, “Well, if they are in a relationship, I don’t think it’s any of our business. But...I’m just curious. Why do you all...think that they are?”

Sarisse rolled her eyes. “Well, anyone can see that they like each other!”

“Well, evidently not, given that half of us had no clue,” said Cleo dryly.

“Anyone  _ with eyes. _ And Sylvans have the best eyes around!” added Luca.

“As for me, I make a habit of noting any unusual activity I observe,” Alex said quietly. “Those two make a habit of spending time alone together whenever possible. And I’ve...seen my fair share of evidence during those moments.”

“And ol’ Ranzal’s been around the block. He has a nose for secret relationships!” Ranzal boasted.

Alex looked at him, askance. “Didn’t you tell me that you saw them--”

Ranzal looked at her with wide eyes and made a cutting motion across his throat, then pointed to Euden, who only looked more confused. “Saw them doing what?”

“Uhh...kissing,” said Ranzal, with an air that conveyed that he did not see them kissing.

“Well, why do we have to tell them at all?” asked Euden. “If they feel more comfortable keeping their relationship quiet, then I don’t see a reason to pull it out into the open like that.”

“The thing is, they’re horrible at keeping it quiet!” cried Sarisse.

“Many people in the castle have seen them kissing at least once,” added Alex, having decided that “kissing” would be a serviceable euphemism for now.

“Doesn’t it seem kinda dumb that the two of them spend so much time and effort sneaking around when we all know and don’t care?” Sarisse continued.

“And if we let them know, maybe in the future it’ll prevent them from...kissing...where kiddos can stumble on them like I did,” Ranzal mumbled. He was a little mentally scarred ever since he walked out of their office and realized that they had been...kissing. Mostly because they didn’t even stop while he was in the room!

“I have a counterpoint, sister,” Luca said. Sarisse rolled her eyes, certain that it would be a stupid counterpoint. And she was right, for he said, “It’s funny watching them trying to be all slick about it.”

“They are observant men, and good detectives,” Alex said quietly, “but they would make terrible spies.”

Euden closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Okay, I believe you guys. And I think that, while we don’t have to come out and directly say that we know they’re in a relationship, we can at least let them know that we...you know, are supportive and if they want to keep their secrets they can but if they want to let us know they can do that too.”

“That’s a good idea,” Elisanne was quick to agree. “After all, there are many reasons why someone may want to keep a relationship a secret.”

“I can’t think of any…” Mym mumbled, but she was mostly ignored because Ranzal said loudly,

“All right! Maybe it’ll stop them from kissing in weird places!”

Privately, Alex did not think so. But she held her tongue and followed behind as Euden left to go talk to the intrepid investigators.

**Author's Note:**

> Random headcanon: despite taking many years of riding lessons (HAH) Heinwald is much less talented at riding horses than Curran is. So he always has to ride with his partner, or be very careful to not ride his horse off the road.
> 
> (and it's because horses are spooked because Heinwald smells like something Other.)


End file.
